How to Convert MBR To GPT Disk Without Losing Data

Windows 8 made the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) popular. It’s basically a replacement of the age old BIOS, and provides the basic interface between the operating system and the device firmware. By providing a more accessible, user friendly and secure boot environment, UEFI gave users peace of mind due to it not allowing external and possibly malicious bootloaders to load, and also allowing far better protection in case of critical system file failure. UEFI is the future, and so are GPT disks.

GPT (GUID Partition Table) disks are replacements for the again age old MBR (Master Boot Record) disks, which only allow 26 partitions(one for each letter of the alphabet) on a single disk, and doesn’t allow partitions larger than 2 TB. With hard disk drive capacities getting bigger and bigger, it’s only a matter of time before GPT disks are absolutely necessary. It is possible to convert an MBR disk to GPT through the inbuilt Windows Disk Management Tool, but unfortunately it requires every partition to be formatted first. So if you’re looking for a way to convert an MBR disk to GPT disk without losing data, you’re in the right place!

Converting MBR to GPT Disk Without Data Loss

Step 4 – Right click on the disk you want to convert, and select the “Convert to GPT” option.

Step 5 – Click OK at the next confirmation box.

Step 6 – On the main program window, click “Apply” to start the conversion.

Once the process is completed, your disk should be ready to use as a GPT disk! You can check this by right clicking the disk again, and instead of “Convert to GPT”, you should see “Convert to GPT”. Note that you cannot convert disks with a system partition on them without losing your data, it only converts data disks. Do let us know if our guide on converting an MBR disk to GPT without data loss has helped you, and any comments are welcome!

About The Author

Rahul Gondane is a huge technophile and gamer, who has been obsessed with everything tech ever since he was a wee lad. He also enjoys reading books, listening to music and watching movies. Rahul is the Chief Operating Officer of Pyrite Technologies Pvt. Ltd.